Dog & Duck Best Friends: The Sweet Story Behind Barley, Louie 

It’s a dog-eat-dog world—so this golden retriever befriended a duck. 

Justin Cannarelli and Tori Cannarelli, a couple who hail from Long Island, New York, are sharing a glimpse into their sweet pets who became unlikely fur-ever friends: Louie the Duck and Barley the Golden Retriever. 

“I never thought I would own a duck,” Tori admitted during an interview with CBS Sunday Mornings Aug. 9. “I never expected him to stay long term.”

In 2024, however, an old dog got a new friend when the couple’s dog Barley was diagnosed with epilepsy and started taking a new medicine that changed her disposition. 

“She lost her spunk,” Tori explained. “She lost her goldeness.”

Initially, Tori—who shares two kids with Justin—admitted that the family felt hopeless. 

“There’s nothing you can do for them,” she recalled. “There’s no way to help them.”

Indeed, Justin admitted that the family felt hopeless toward their once-spunky pup going dim.